The Classic MotorCycle

Words: Roy Poynting Photography: Terry Joslin This British four-stroke trials iron came from a period when two-strokes – predominantly Spanish – ruled the roost. Those of us who were around before the British motorcycle industry imploded in the mid-1960s, will need little reminding of the big-name London area dealers. Top of the list was Pride…

Continue reading »

Words and photography: Steve Wilson Eighty years ago BSA hit the sporting singles market with a ‘one-two’ – first, the charismatic Empire Star, and then a complete redesign and a range of high-quality, precedent-setting sporting singles. My young friend Ed Batty is impulsive – but in a cautious way. This chimes with his somewhat contradictory…

Continue reading »

Words and photography: Phillip Tooth This 1913 90-Bore Bat-JAP offers staggering performance, but that’s not surprising considering its pedigree. Stephan Friedl sets the needle valve of the drip feed on the Best and Lloyd oil pump to number two. Then he releases the clip that holds the plunger down, and as the internal spring pushes…

Continue reading »

Words: JAMES ROBINSON Photography: GARY CHAPMAN/mortons archive This pair of International Nortons both have a 1950s Clubman TT history and share an engine, but they are from different ‘generations’. Stood alongside one another, what is most obviously apparent about this pair of International Nortons, built just two years apart, is the differences, rather than the…

Continue reading »

Vic Willoughby is taken for a ride by the runner-up in The Motor Cycle’s 1962 ‘Specials’ competition. The Motor Cycle ran a competition in 1962 where readers could submit their ‘specials’ to be judged by a panel of experts – which included prolific special builder Bob Collier – in the quest to win a £25…

Continue reading »